The Health Care Bill

Image by Listener42 via Flickr

Most of you know that I never discuss politics, but I can't help but share an opinion on this out-of-contraol situation.

What if conventional wisdom isn't conventional?

Used to be you turned on the TV and took the temperature of the nation. If you were truly sophisticated, you read the newspaper. And learned what was really going on. Or did you?

Turns out the truth is a bit different from what the conventional media tells us it is. Turns out the only stories aren't the ones in the newspaper (and, for the record, TV does no reporting, unless someone got raped, killed or kidnapped.) Turns out the usual suspects have lost control of the thermometer, if you want to know what the temperature is in this country, you surf the Web and come to your own conclusions.

This is big.

Would George Bush be able to con America into believing there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2010? Doubtful. Because we're no longer dependent on Judith Miller, our country is no longer controlled by one reporter with a mouthpiece, rather there's a plethora of voices, and frequently the ones online are more informed. Because they're reporting within their area of expertise and not beholden to fat cats, and not on a career path determined by anyone other than themselves.

Speak with a newspaper reporter. They're asking questions. They're investigating. But what if the person who knew was writing what was going on? What then?

That's what's happening today.

Conventional wisdom said health care was dead. But then the President and the Democratic Congress were enlightened by vocal supporters, disillusioned Democrats, primarily online, asking WHAT THE HELL?

We elected you. We wanted change. And you're worried about these nitwit Republicans beholden to the religious right who can only say no, who are refusing to play because they don't have the ball.

Balls? Suddenly, the Democrats grew them.

And I don't care what side of the debate you're on, I don't care whether you support health care or not, you've got to admit it's fascinating how the media said one thing and the truth turned out to be the other way.

They tell us people like the beat-infused Top Forty. They tell us the best way to make a star is on TV, preferably "American Idol". They tell us the major labels' model has to be protected. But IS THIS TRUE?

Everything's up for grabs. It no longer matters what Rush Limbaugh says, nor the RIAA. Everyone's questioning what's fed to them, they're dong independent research and coming to their own conclusions.

Like:

1. Physical formats are dead.

2. Music is overpriced.

3. The concert ticket game is rigged.

4. Today's acts suck.

But, but, BUT you say, CDs still sell and...

You're making the same mistake the mainstream press did. You're paying attention to the fading minority. Or as Henry Ford once said, "If I'd listened to customers, I'd have given them a faster horse."

Market research doesn't tell you where the future lies. Steve Jobs didn't ask people whether they wanted an iPad, HE MADE IT!

Market research said no one would rent videos, and then everybody did. Market research says people don't want to rent music, but if you don't think the Spotify/streaming model will triumph, your head is truly up your ass.

It's just a matter of when.

Now is the time to take the ball and run it up the middle.

Now is the time to create truly great music, not worrying about what gatekeepers say, taking it straight to the public.

There's no center.

Doug Morris just isn't that powerful.

Nor is Lucian Grainge.

And whatever power Irving Azoff has is limited. He doesn't control music distribution. He may have a bit of a corner on live exhibition, but that's just a piece of the puzzle.

It's a whole new world! Doesn't matter what the fat cats, the usual suspects, those who once had power, have to say. Not a whit.

It matters what the Web constituency has to say.

Yes, people still listen to radio, but there are people who still buy CDs, DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE FADING MINORITY! That's like trumpeting Sarah Palin for President. She can't win. Numbers will tell you this. But the mainstream media likes the story. But she's just about irrelevant.

And I'm not saying the Democrats are princes, but when Obama and Pelosi finally grabbed the ball, stopped pussyfooting, challenged their critics and ignored naysayers, and more importantly, the American people, they got something done!

Stop listening to those who say you can't. Their opinion is worthless. Doesn't matter if the A&R guy doesn't like your music. Doesn't matter if radio ignores you either.

It comes down to this, DO THE PEOPLE LIKE YOU?

Do they?

Numbers don't lie. How many fans have truly downloaded your music? How big is your mailing list? How many Twitter followers do you have? If none of these numbers are large, either you're the worst marketer in creation or you suck. Or both.

But if you're good, now more than ever, it's your time. People don't care about the chart. They don't care about what the mainstream says. They care about what their friends and trusted filters say. They're making their own decisions. Play to them, they're the only ones who count.

Lesley Duncan

Image via Wikipedia

The best Elton John album is "Tumbleweed Connection". Released on the heels of "Elton John" and the huge success of "Your Song", "Tumbleweed Connection" had no singles and itself was soon followed by "Friends", "11/17/70" and at the end of the year, "Madman Across The Water". Casual listeners are unaware of the record, but fans hold it dear. It contains Elton's original showstopper, "Burn Down The Mission", his take of "Country Comfort", which Rod Stewart had just done, "Son Of Your Father", which Spooky Tooth was placing its ultimately failed hopes in, and...

"Where To Now St. Peter?"

The first side ended with the laconic "My Father's Gun". Well, it started out like a tale from a hayseed with a stick of straw emanating from his mouth, but eventually it devolved into the rhythm of a paddle-wheeler on the Mississippi, blend a margarita and listen on your back porch as the sun sets, as this epic unfolds.

But the second side opened with something we hadn't heard from Elton previously, an intimate piano figure, an ethereal vocal... Listening to "Where To Now St. Peter?", you truly felt like you were floating down a river.

"I took myself a blue canoe
And I floated like a leaf
Dazzling, dancing half enchanted
In my Merlin sleep"

Floating is the operative word. "Tumbleweed Connection" arrived during Christmas vacation, when I returned to Berekely, I saw the Record Club of America box over the shoulder of the mail clerk. Also included in the box were "Gasoline Alley" and the very first Rod Stewart album, eponymous in the U.S., entitled "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down" in the U.K. And I loved them both. But when I dropped the needle on "Where To Now St. Peter?" I resonated, like this track was made just for me, it took me away from my studies, I felt like Elton lived next door and dropped by to play a tune long after dark.

And it being the winter of marijuana, and long days on the ski slopes, I'd drop the needle on the second side of "Tumbleweed Connection" to hear "Where To Now St. Peter?" and it would slide into "Love Song". This was long before CD players, long before remote controls, long before endless repeat.

There was a percussion element that sounded like a scratch, believe me, I checked. And a song unfolded which sounded like nothing else on the album. Because it wasn't written by Elton, but one Lesley Duncan, who duetted on the track with him.

There's a story here. I don't know what it is. Aspiring stars don't cede that real estate, they don't give up those royalties. Yes, unable to move from my bed, I heard "Love Song" again and again, I broke open the gatefold cover and read the credits, I knew who was responsible.

This is the genesis of album rock. It wasn't about the radio so much as the limited music we acquired and our inability to get up off our rear ends. The needle slipped into the next groove, and over time we became fans of what followed.

And what follows "Love Song" is "Amoreena", a song with such a swagger, you want to put on your guns and amble down a dusty Texas street.

Then there was the quiet "Talking Old Soldiers" and the tour de force of "Burn Down The Mission". Side two was my favorite. I'd put the play ratio of side two to one that month of January 1971 at ten or twelve to one. It took quite a while to sink in how great "Comes Down In Time" truly was...you see it was located on the first side.

"Love Song"'s key feature is its intimacy. As if it were playing in your head as you strolled through the park on a spring morning. It's not the best song on "Tumbleweed Connection", nor is it my favorite. But I know it. Like I know a member of my family. Because, believe me, these records rode shotgun with me through my life, they were right there in my saddlebags.

Lesley Duncan just died.

http://themusicsover.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/lesley-duncan/

http://www.nme.com/news/elton-john/50225

Money, Power & Fame

Image via CrunchBase

I read a story on the airplane...

Not only am I not sure what time it is, I wouldn't even bet on what DAY it is!

I got off the airplane and my BlackBerry said 3:22 AM. How could that be? My watch said an hour earlier. Took me about twenty minutes to factor in Daylight Savings Time. Fucking BlackBerry can't figure out what time zone I'm in, but it can adjust for Daylight Savings Time?

Much earlier, as it rained outside, I had lunch on the twelfth floor of the Royal York with Roger Faxon, Chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing. They say these guys are clueless? Can't agree with you when it comes to Mr. Faxon. His views were practical, he had a handle on the landscape and informed me that EMI's record company and publishing company were two separate entities under the same umbrella, they were already divided, it had been a condition of Terra Firma's purchase. So when the whip comes down...

Which it inevitably will.

Then I journeyed with Jake to the airport, which was a clusterfuck nonpareil. The "Wall Street Journal" said to arrive two and a half hours in advance, ever since that terrorist incident at the end of last year travel from Canada to the States has been...well, let's just say they've gotten a lot stricter at immigration.

Not that it made any difference. My plane ended up being delayed by two and a half hours.

You see there was weather. Wind shear in T.O., our plane had to stop in Chi-town for more fuel after turning back, afraid of the waiting disaster at Pearson. As for NYC... Something was blowing really hard there too, flights were fucked up all day. Seymour told me he'd considered taking the bus. He had friends in for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he needed to get home.

THE BUS?

I couldn't quite envision it, Seymour Stein journeying like Joe Buck from T.O. to NYC. Only eight hours he said. THE BUS? I remember my parents making me take it from Connecticut back to college in Vermont. This was before every kid in America got a car when he turned 16, so his parents didn't have to schlep him around. I was scarred for life! Shit, if you want someone to strive for economic greatness, just make them take the bus. It's a window into a low class world that you're dying to escape. Shit, did they even HAVE buses anymore? I thought the companies followed the railroads into bankruptcy.

Last I heard, the flight to New York was canceled and rescheduled for 7 AM. Last I saw Seymour, he was heading for the gate. Maybe he should have taken the highway.

And after two hours of insight with Seymour, covering the history of the music industry from Sid Nathan to Lyor Cohen, he was replaced in his seat by Vince. Who I'd seen flying in the front of the plane on the way in.

NO, Getty Images doesn't pay for business class. Vince is EXECUTIVE PLATINUM! Shit, the CEO of Getty flies in the back of the plane. At least that's the ticket he buys. At least that's what Vince said.

And like Bonnie Raitt sang, the luck of the draw got me upgraded to one of the two empty seats in business class. Which was a godsend, having already spent the length of the journey to L.A. at the airport.

And the ride was bumpy. But I read an article in "Vanity Fair"...

Did you read Michael Lewis' "Liar's Poker"? He worked at Salomon Brothers and told the story. One I've never forgotten. Of blowing up bankers all over the world. Yup, Goldman Sachs had to unload paper, and if someone in a far-flung country, or the keeper of the pension funds lost a bundle, hell, it was just business.

And it freaked Lewis out so much he quit, married Tabitha Soren and started following baseball.

Well, not exactly. He did end up marrying the MTV News queen. His most famous book is "Moneyball". But he's still an expert on Wall Street. He's one of the few writers who can make it comprehensible. Wow, you can read this story online!

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/04/wall-street-excerpt-201004

You're never going to read it online. Hell, you're probably never even going to read it. And that's just the point. The article is about Michael Burry, who figured out the mortgage market was gonna tank and bet against it. Burry was the leading edge.

But this story isn't about money. It's about dedication.

You see Michael Burry was passionate. He was a doctor, training at the hospital, enduring those endless hours, but still he found time to pore over prospectuses, study stocks and pontificate online. To the point when he went pro, some of the most famous traders in America found him, invested in him!

Let me make this clear. This is like making music in your basement and getting a call from Doug Morris or Timbaland or David Foster. But they don't want to mold you, they don't want to change you, they don't want you to do anything different, they just want A PIECE OF YOUR ACTION!

Yup, they found Burry on the Internet.

Isn't it interesting that warhorses in the music business will pooh-pooh the Net, saying you can't break an act there, that it comes down to radio and television, but the real money men are trolling for info online?

And how did Burry get so good at picking stocks? BY STUDYING!

Yup, doing the work.

This is Gladwell time.

We live in a country where no one wants to do the work.

Oh, I know that's an overstatement. But most people want to watch television. They want to focus on their image. Is it any wonder they're left behind?

Not that you need a formal education to make it. You can't learn the stock market in school. You've got to learn it on your own, like the music business.

And Burry's returns at his Scion fund are confoundingly large. It's all about value. He bets on fundamentally sound companies that are experiencing a bit of trouble. He hangs in there during the downward spiral in order to ride the roller coaster to the top, making beaucoup bucks along the way.

This is like investing in a band that may not look great, may need to woodshed a bit, may need to make three or four albums, but when it gets it together will be a gold mine. We can call it the Kings of Leon. We can call it artist development. We can call it ANYTHING but flavor of the moment.

That's the point. Are you willing to do it differently? Are you willing to do the work and come up with your own conclusions, your own solutions? That's Steve Jobs' way. When everybody said you've got to have open standards, he promoted closed systems. And now he's the big winner.

And Burry got so deep into it, figuring out when and what mortgage bonds were gonna tank, that he bought credit default swaps and made...enough money to buy your entire neighborhood. And the one next to you. And the one next to that.

By being brilliant. Even though so many investors said his plan was lunacy and wanted no part of it.

THIS is the American story. Not making a mix tape and partying with Paris Hilton and getting a photo in TMZ... Snooki is a diversion for the masses, the losers. Do you want to be a winner?

Winners start off in the wilderness. They do it their own way. They stick to their guns. They work incessantly and they never give up.

Whew. That just does not sound like enough people in the record business, on either side of the fence, talent or businessman.

We live in a confusing, crazy world. But one thing is constant. The winners pay their dues. And it's not solely time on the chain gang. No, there's a ton of anxiety involved. Questioning yourself, taking risks, sticking to your guns when no one believes in you.

It's every man for himself out there. Shouldn't be, but it is.

There's a safety net in Canada. In Sweden. That's the socialism you decry. But in the good old United States, the game is stacked against you. Those with power, with money, have erected walls to keep you out. And if you think kissing butt is the way to get ahead, you're delusional. It's not about how you can get signed, it's about how you can beat Universal at its own game. You've got to be smarter than Lucian Grainge. Believe me, these people exist. And they're gonna be the winners. They're the ones we're gonna be reading about in "Vanity Fair" five years from now.

Canada

Image via Wikipedia

DA PLANE

I do my best to fly American. Yup, that loyalty program works. If I'm Gold, which I am, I don't have to pay for bags and...I can get upgraded...which happened just last week!

But not to Toronto. The front of the plane was booked. I had to sit in the back.

Not too bad. I'm just gonna sit on the aisle and read my magazines all the way to Canada.

Then again, having priority access, being able to board the plane early, I'm in that hellacious anxiety-filled limbo, waiting to see who is going to sit next to me.

Yup, I get on the plane right away. Need to. To put all my stuff in the overhead bin! Not that I'm traveling with that much, but I want a little legroom, I don't want to put my computer underneath the seat in front of me.

So, they're loading from back to front. And I'm just behind the wall in coach... I see obese people go by... I'm losing sympathy for Kevin Smith. Or should I blame the airlines, with impossibly skinny seats and no legroom befitting a population of Lilliputians...

And finally, they're loading my zone.

And one of those guys who looks like a leaking barrel... He's towering over me.

And he's with this woman, I'm not sure it's his wife, because he's all over her, and usually years of marriage eviscerates that behavior, and they're debating whether he should sit in the middle or on the aisle and ultimately...he tells her he's gonna sit by the window.

Yay! Victory!

Then again, his significant other is a bit wide in the hips. No, that's an understatement. She's fat too, just not as fat. But then they start nookying around, as if they're going to join the Mile High Club right there in the cabin, without a blanket, and she's leaning against him, and her avoirdupois is...infringing upon my territory.

That's how you start wars. Hell, it's bad enough that the guy in front of me put his seat back all the way as soon as we leveled out.

So, feeling encroached upon, I pushed back once or twice. I mean she's leaning her ass right against mine, like I'm a cushion or something.

And she never gives me room, but ultimately gets up to pee, and goes to first class, which is a no-no, and she comes back and the guy goes to pee too and she waits in the aisle and when they come back, they switch seats!

Well, at least his hips were narrower, but all his fat is oozing over the armrest, I feel like I'm going to be crushed by the Marshmallow Man.

I get it. Fares have to be cheap or people won't fly. You've got to pack in a bunch of people to make the numbers work.

But we're a fat as hell country trying to squeeze into a skinny world. Kind of like a middle-aged matron sporting a spare tire trying to fit into a size 2. At least the fashion designers wised-up and made a size 10 the equivalent of a size 14.

So what's the answer?

I don't consider myself a member of the fat police. But either we've got to get people healthy or we need bigger airplane seats.

Then again, I read a great analysis in "Newsweek". Stating that it's not really the politicians' fault, blame the electorate, which wants tons of services for no money.

Yup, I don't want to pay any taxes, but fix my roads, give me my entitlements...

To tell you the truth, I would have rather stood up to Toronto. Like the CEO of Ryanair suggested, however facetiously.


VINCE BANNON

You know Vince, right?

Was a performer, a promoter, a record exec and now works for Getty Images.

People steal images for their Websites. So what does Getty do? It makes them available cheap, so people will go legit. Hell, they've got a whole site where the hoi polloi can post their own photos for usage, with a bunch of instructions attached, like NO ONE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT YOUR FAMILY PICTURES!

If only the labels got the message...

You want to be a distributor for everyone. And you want to make music so cheap, it doesn't pay to steal. Hell, stealing takes time.

If you think a buck a track is a good deal, you're probably not buying any...

Piracy isn't a battle to be fought with lawsuits, but pricing and ease of use.

Then again, everybody knows this except the rights holders, which is why the major labels are in decline.


MUSIC MANAGERS FORUM

They had a dinner, honoring Anne Murray's deceased manager and Sam Feldman.

Sam said some interesting things.

Like how it's the same as when he started. You put up posters and you build your act in the clubs. We're starting all over.

Sam also railed about 360 deals. Managers hate 'em. At least managers who are not so eager to commission the meager monies that come in on today's new deals. Shit, you can make more money playing the slots in Vegas.

Or, as Jake said... In a 360 deal, is the manager working for the label? The labels wants you to forgo commissions while you're building the act, but the manager's starving...

The majors believe they've won, 360s are the standard. But have they really lost. Have they got a perfect world where they rule but few want to play.


BILLY CORGAN

Yup, forgot, I read "Rolling Stone" on the plane.

Yes, I still get it. But everybody I told about this story in T.O. does not. The magazine has never meant less.

Anyway, Billy knows he's a has-been. He's using spiritual techniques to try and remain optimistic, that he can break through again.

It's fascinating. Usually stars won't speak the truth. They're delusional, being ripped off again and again yet believing it's sunny when it's raining out.

But Billy knows that people made a fortune on his music... And now, he's yesterday's news. Few want to see him. Same as it ever was. Which is why you can't be on the side of the labels, who take the lion's share of the money. Athletes have brief careers too. But they pay a lot in sports, the stars bring in the cash. Used to be you could make tons on the road, now the label wants a share of that too? Ridiculous.

Meanwhile, there's a long story on Shaun White, the preeminent snowboarder, in "Rolling Stone" too. You want to know what his passion is? Music. The hip shit, beats and such? No, Shaun loves Zeppelin, he's learning the guitar. The Top Forty nitwits are the sideshow, never forget this. The mainstream and the hip merged in the MTV era, but MTV finally removed "Music Television" from its logo, those days are THROUGH!


OLIVER

Can't remember his last name, can't remember the venue, but both made an impression upon me.

First, the club. Two rooms. Comedy in the front and music in the back. ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT! You can feel the heartbeat in Toronto. In L.A? They're bumping asses, trying to get in TMZ.

And Oliver, who made it into the Top 22 on "Canadian Idol", don't hold that against him, did an acoustic set. Shit, he could sing well, play and you could follow along, and sing along.

This is music.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Beats are music, and that alternative dreck is music too. It's just that in this post modern world in which we live, people are doing derivations of derivations that the public can't relate to. Let's go BACK to the garden. Shit, Zeppelin, et al, were influenced by the blues. A great blues number still works. Do you really have to mess it up with speed, time changes and screechy vocals? Think about it. The best cars have the simplest exterior design. Think of the classics, stop trying to be hip.


RALPH SIMON

Worth knowing. Clive Calder's old partner. But unlike Clive, Ralph's still in the game, would be even if his old partner had cut him in on his score.

Ralph flies all over the world brokering mobile deals. He cemented the deal between U2 and BlackBerry. In the lobby, Ralph introduced me to this guy from India who paid Warner a bunch of money for mobile rights. Conversations with Ralph are deep, not just statistics.

And I told Ralph that the U.K., where he resides...is completely different from America.

In the U.K., people follow music like horse-racing, they're fans of the game. No one gives a shit about the game in the U.S.

In the U.K., radio still matters.

Radio matters less than ever in the U.S. You can be a radio star and play clubs, whereas someone without radio play can live off their tour receipts.

Point being, in the U.S. we've got utter chaos. And the rest of the world is following us. Everybody's making music, potential listeners are overwhelmed, there are no filters and there's no organization.

Filters will rule. People want to be told what to listen to. Online. Shit, they're not going to listen through endless b.s. to hear their favorite song on Pandora, that radio service has the lifespan of MySpace, it's about reading about something and hearing it INSTANTLY, clicking on it! Shit, you can even do this now, with LaLa and YouTube, never mind Spotify. But what you listen to... That's where the game gets interesting.

And recommendations won't come from computer algorithms, but people. Computers will decide what we listen to when you can have sex in an orgasmatron...


LUNCH

An A&R man told me how new bands manipulate the system. They cut a radio guy in for points, get airplay and then trumpet these spins to the label. It's all fake.

Then again, this same guy didn't say all new music was bad, just ABOVE AVERAGE!

Eureka, THAT'S IT! People send me decent stuff all the time. But one listen is enough. Or, as the publisher in attendance stated, like Steve Jobs' credo, music must be INSANELY GREAT!

Make that the filter. Before you recommend something, is it INSANELY GREAT!

That leaves just about everything out. But don't complain, face the facts. The public is so overwhelmed, they've only got TIME for insanely great.

Apple releases one or two products a year that they've been working on for years. And nobody in the building was born yesterday. You've got people who've been coding since before they grew pubic hair! That's what it takes to make something insanely great. So think about it, you just learned GarageBand, cut a song and made a deal for Tunecore to put it on iTunes. THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S GREAT OR THAT WE CARE!

The Long Tail means everything is available, so your friends and family can buy it, not that we, the general public, care whatsoever.

Ask yourself, in an era with infinite music at your fingertips, DO YOU WANT TO PLAY IT AGAIN?

Prior to this century, music was expensive, we had little, we played it again because we had no choice.

Those days are history, gone completely. Everything's available. How do we get people to pay attention, to spend time?

By being INSANELY great!

All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)

Cover of Manassas

"Do what you do, don't bring me down"

I was driving down the San Diego Freeway, sun in my face, the interior of my car still cold from sitting outside overnight, listening to Deep Tracks.

They played that Manassas track "Right Now"... This is the quintessential Stills, not the debut which got all the hoopla. Buy this double album.

Then "Dig A Pony". "Let It Be" will never be a throwaway for me because of "I've Got A Feeling", but I can't imagine being a deejay and selecting "Dig A Pony" to play on the radio. I thought of switching the channel. But I ended up zoning out and enjoying it.

You know how driving is. You're going along at 70, checked out, almost asleep. But somehow, your synapses fire and get you to brake, swerve, in case something untoward occurs. Ah, the human body, what a machine. Not built by Toyota, but GM. Works great when you buy it, it's just as you get older it starts falling apart. The mind says yes, but the limbs say no.

But I'm still functioning. Old age has not yet caught up with me. And I hear something... It's an intro. A couple of strums of an electric guitar, a whistle and a few drumbeats. I'm drawn in, like they're giving away a million dollars in the dashboard. But this is better than money, this is quite clearly "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)".

We played these records so much we know every nuance. We can name them BEFORE the tune begins. But then Mike Kellie hits the drums and Peter Frampton begins to wail.

Yes, I looked it up. I've still got my original 1972 vinyl album. I bought it because I was so impressed with Peter at the Fillmore East, on Humble Pie's farewell tour (at least with Peter). I saw it in a bin in London. But didn't buy it until I got back to the U.S. that fall. And I seemed to be the only one. Oh, other people bought "Wind Of Change", but I didn't know them. There was no Facebook, no social networking. We didn't find other fans of the band until we went to the gig.

At first my favorite was the opener, "Fig Tree Bay", slow and enticing.

I didn't understand the cover of "Jumping Jack Flash". It seemed superfluous, especially since Frampton had no problem writing his own material.

But it was the second side opus that entranced me, that made me a fan.

Yes, "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" opens side two. The second side opener was never the single. Unless an album contained two. It was always a statement. Of where the artist was coming from. The first side opener was for the label, the manager, the second side opener was for the artist.

"All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" is six minutes and twenty five seconds long. But it plays like 3:30. It starts with the verses, then drifts into instrumental territory and builds and builds. Kind of like "Layla", if the second half of that Clapton classic wasn't blissed out. Yes, both halves of "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" definitely hung together, were of a piece. As if you went to dinner with someone and found yourself drifting in a boat down a river thereafter. There might not be tangerine trees and marmalade skies, but the feeling of euphoria was the same.

And I'm listening to "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)" in the car just now and I hear something, that I've never noticed before. The way the guitar notes have this funny way of sticking together, they're not separate, they're fluid, not drops, but an endless pour with staccato elements. The track is almost forty years old, yet brand new.

And then it starts accelerating towards the end. That ride on the river is going to end. We're going to tie up the boat. Please no, NO! But Frampton and his buddies are not done, for the final thirty seconds they flourish, like your love winking at you before she walks up the dock and evaporates.

Olympics Spoiler Alert

Image via Wikipedia

Julia Mancuso's dad went to prison for dealing dope.

Now if that ain't an American story...

Too hot for the American press.

Not that Ms. Mancuso cared. Hell, she even posed as a Lange girl. Check her out here:

http://www.thesnowjunkies.com/2009/11/06/vintage-lange-girl-gallery/

But there was no backlash, unlike with Lindsey Vonn's bathing suit photos in "Sports Illustrated". Because no one was paying attention.

Now everyone's paying attention. Because Julia medaled again today. Ascending to the podium after fully and speedily executing the slalom portion of the Super Combined, difficult for someone who focuses on speed events like the Downhill and Super-G.

I'm just saying there was no hype about Julia Mancuso prior to the Olympics. Hell, she was injured last year, she was shunted aside in favor of America's sweetheart, Lindsey Vonn. Who DNF'ed in the slalom portion of today's event.

The media loves a pre-delineated story. But real life ain't that way. You've got to play to find out the results. Which are oftentimes surprising.

Truth is stranger than fiction?

Absolutely.

Used to be the mainstream media controlled the narrative.

Now, online, the picture is much hazier. You've got full time fans defining the story for their brethren, and then when the occasional lurkers weigh in, they show their lack of knowledge.

So let's say Lindsey Vonn doesn't win another medal. She probably will, she should triumph in the Super-G. Odds are much lower in GS, especially slalom. But let's say Lindsey does not. And Julia Mancuso ends up with her two silver medals. Does she become the story? Can she become America's sweetheart?

Or does the fact that her hair veers towards brunette instead of blond and she didn't grow up with all the advantages mean that we can't rally around her?

P.S. I found out Lindsey DNF'ed via Twitter. Google News had nothing. nbcolympics.com wasn't even up to date. And up to date is how we like our information. Twitter might not be the final answer, but if you want to know what's going on right now, it's the go to site.

SONG OF THE DECADE

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Yes, it's been ten years. And I'm not one for lists. But in magazines and newspapers decade-ending rankings have started to appear. Best movies, best TV shows and best songs. So I thought I'd weigh in.

"Some have maxed out all their credit cards Some are working two jobs and living in cars Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO See how far 5.15 an hour will go Take a part time job at one of your stores Bet you can't make it here anymore"

I've had a rough year. Financially.

After a disastrous nineties, I owe nothing. I live on a cash basis. I saved every damn cent I could, figuring it's hard to make a living on a freelance basis, and then the bottom fell out.

I'm not complaining. I've got my cash hoard. But it's depressing. Because almost everybody I know is broke, or close to it. I've even got a friend who put her stuff in storage and is bouncing from guest bedroom to guest bedroom, she just can't find a job.

They don't exist. Even if you want to work, you can't.

Your best bet is the network, those people you've known for decades. You can call and lean on them, if they still even have their jobs.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is paying record bonuses and their Chairman Lloyd Blankfein says the firm is doing God's work. He must pray to a deity I've yet to encounter, one who wants to see the populace suffer. Used to be Wall Street helped build America, now traders just profit off exotic investment instruments. Meanwhile, if we didn't prop up AIG, the banks would be bankrupt and their employees would be just like us, without a job and with no prospects. Hell, did you see that story in the "New York Times" about ex Lehman Brothers employees? They can't work.

Not that I've got sympathy.

"Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils The billionaires get to pay less tax The working poor get to fall through the cracks Let 'em eat jellybeans, let 'em eat cake Let 'em eat shit, whatever it takes They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps If they can't make it here anymore"

By time you read this our President, Barack Obama, a man who ran on the mantra of hope, may be getting us deeper into Afghanistan. Isn't Al-Qaeda in Pakistan? And, if the Soviets couldn't win there, why should we? A country owned by China with disastrous financials (that's us, in case you didn't recognize your homeland).

And if you join the armed forces to serve your country, to pay your bills, you're entering the Hotel California. It seems you can never leave. You wish you were a rock star, high on dope, as you jumpily wait for people to attack you one more time. Coming home to a country that pays you lip service, but doesn't give a shit. If you come home at all. And if you do return, you're probably so traumatized you figure suicide is the best solution.

"In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains That's done closed down along with the school And the hospital and the swimming pool Dust devils dance in the noonday heat There's rats in the alley And trash in the street Gang graffiti on a boxcar door We can't make it here anymore"

Not only have they ditched music in schools, now they're closing the libraries. Guess everybody's got to sit in front of the TV, paying media giants to have crap shoved down their throats. Elvis Costello sang about vapid radio? Well, they killed radio and now have us anesthetized in front of the flat screen, selling us products we don't need, that we put on credit cards that charge 29%. As for holding back... Didn't they say it was American to shop, that we were entitled? If we sacrifice, maybe that means the future truly is bleak. So, we consume until we go bust.

I try to have hope. Can't say that I achieve this state every day.

But one thing that helps me get through is James McMurtry's "We Can't Make It Here". Not only my favorite song of the twenty first century, but my most played. With over 200 plays in my iTunes library on the computer I superseded in 2006, and over 100 more since.

Sure, the lyrics are poignant, they're poetry. But there's a hypnotic groove that hooks me, that makes me want to play the song again and again.

There's an authorized electric version, but I prefer the acoustic take. Which James used to give away for free on his site, but now you can hear as backing to a clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug&feature=PlayList&p=8F9DB3A3A3F39061&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=21

You don't have to pay a scalper to see James McMurtry. He's gonna play in the bar in your hometown sometime next year. But the paper won't make a big deal, there won't be a buzz. But the paper is going extinct and we haven't yet made a complete transition from Kara DioGuardi crap to real music.

Is it only about the money? What happens when the money runs out? Then what? When no one listens to Top Forty, when no one wants to go to the show. When the old criteria die, it comes down to the music.

James McMurtry got a break at the beginning. He did a number of albums on Columbia, his first was produced by John Mellencamp. But when his deal was done he didn't give up and go to law school, he didn't get an MBA, he didn't don a suit and go straight, no he went indie, he kept writing, he kept playing.

And if that ain't twenty first century, I don't know what is.

In the next month, we're going to be deluged with statistics. Telling us who the winners were. People who provided fodder for the system, that you consumed, shat out and forgot.

But great art is unforgettable.

"We Can't Make It Here" is unforgettable. Just as powerful as "Eve Of Destruction", but sans camp, it doesn't slide off of you, it penetrates your core.

How did we get here?

To a country where there are winners and losers. And the winners feel entitled.

It's not only Wall Street, the music game is not much different.

The stars can't sell recordings anymore so they've jacked up the price of concert tickets to the point where the average attendee only goes to a show once a year. Isn't that like only having sex once a year? Aren't you entitled to more? Don't you want more?

Those left at the label complain that the audience is a bunch of thieves. Never mind the overpriced CDs they sold with only one good track for over a decade.

And the wannabes only want to know, which way to riches?

Every day they e-mail me...how can I make money?

If I had the answer to that, I'd be rich myself!

But I do it because I want to, it's my passion. That's why I write. And as long as people read, I'm going to proceed. It's fine with me that you're partaking for free, because first and foremost it's about communication, hell, it's about attention, and I've got yours, and believe me, nothing thrills me, nothing satisfies me more.

I may be a lone voice in the wilderness, I may be the only person who says this, but I truly believe James McMurtry's "We Can't Make It Here" is the best song of this nascent century. It doesn't only sound good, it's got something to say.

"We Can't Make It Here" lyrics: http://www.jamesmcmurtry.com/we_cant_make_it_herelyrics.htm

Alternative acoustic take: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbWRfBZY-ng&feature=related

Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv0q3cW3x1s&feature=player_embedded#

TAYLOR SWIFT RESPONDS

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First time I was in the shower. When I listened to the message toweling off, I thought she said "Erica". Listening again it was clear it was Ms. Swift, who sounded troubled, like there'd been a misunderstanding involving love. And maybe that's the case. She felt I loved her, had I turned against her?

That's what she said when we finally spoke. That she thought I got her. And it frustrated her to think that I believed she used auto-tune.

She denied it. Emphatically. As only as a nineteen year old can. I believed her. But it still didn't address the underlying issue. Could she sing? Exactly how good a singer was she?

I told her I couldn't talk right now. That I was rushing out to a doctor's appointment. If she wanted, we could speak about two hours hence, when I came back. But there was the eight hour time difference, and the day was evaporating. Although she'd left me her cell phone number, unfortunately one digit eaten by the machine, I told her to e-mail me with her address, and as soon as I got home I'd let her know, we could talk.

But then doing the math, worried we'd be unable to connect, having to get up early to do interviews, Taylor got into it. How she didn't even know how to use auto-tune, had never used it. Then again, she admitted to fixing some mistakes in the studio.

Then I asked her, what about those high-priced concert tickets online? What was going on there? I'd printed an e-mail saying in Philadelphia that tickets were going for far in excess of a hundred bucks and then, within minutes of my publishing said letter, the whole tour page disappeared online, replaced with dates that had already played as opposed to those coming up.

She told me she had no idea. She'd have to check into it. And I ran out of my house and got behind the wheel.

This was not the first contact I'd received from her camp. I'd gotten a long e-mail from her father. Not histrionic, not criticizing me, but also emphatically denying she'd been auto-tuned live. That was off the record, but now since his daughter has weighed in...

And maybe that was true. Because she was so horrible in the opening of the CMAs. Oh, that's a strong word to use. It's just that she was so far from perfect, anywhere but on the note, on pitch. She was definitely naked there.

As she was during the first song on SNL. Not the opening segment, wherein Taylor said, like many writers to me opined, that she was trying to imitate Phoebe from "Friends", but the full band number. She wasn't quite as bad as she was on the CMAs, but she was not up to the level of a professional. The second song was better, but the backup vocals were covering up quite a bit.

So, like I said. Even if she didn't use auto-tune, there was still the underlying issue, could she sing? She admitted fixing things on record...

Then, after my appointment, I got an e-mail from the guy who leases the audio equipment for her tour, one Everett Lybolt, GM of Sound Image. This was pushing me over the edge. They protesteth too much! Furthermore, Mr. Lybolt went on to criticize other performers on the CMAs for not being live.

Who the fuck knows.

Taylor said I could come to the gig, check all her equipment out.

Like I'm really going to do that. Like it would prove anything. And I never wanted to be a member of the CIA.

And then I get home to a hanging tag from FedEx. My new laptop has finally arrived from China. I missed the delivery by fifteen minutes. I call the delivery service, asking for a resend, and while I'm being transferred between operators, another person is looking for me. But they hang up, then ring again. It's Taylor. Who I tell to hold.

This was unexpected. I figured she'd accomplished her mission.

But she wanted to get back to me with information on the tour dates. As a reader had informed me, the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia does not use Ticketmaster, Comcast sells the tickets. And isn't it funny now that Comcast has joined the Ticketmaster/Live Nation cluster fuck, with Irving supposedly offloading assets to the Roberts-controlled venture so the merger can go through.

Taylor told me her site had been hacked. That the link should have been to comcasttix.com. But the hackers had redirected buyers to gotthetix.com. That's why ducats for her show were priced far in excess of a hundred dollars. She implied that this had been discovered days ago, but in any event, she said it had now been fixed. Anyway, if you go back to her tour page now, the spring dates have reappeared. With Philadelphia and most other markets being shown as being sold out.

The truth?

Who the hell knows.

But there's your story.

But what about our earlier conversation. About Taylor's singing?

I told her she was quite good in the skits on SNL. And she was. Best non-actor guest host in recent times. But I told her, like that CMA opening, the first song...her voice was not good.

Taylor laughed. Said she could handle being criticized for having a bad voice, for missing notes. But she couldn't live with being criticized for being inauthentic.

Those songs are written in real time. About real people. Her co writers edit more than contribute. Her next album she's not planning to write with anyone. Not now, anyway.

And speaking of collaboration, she said she's got no manager. That she and her team have weekly meetings, where they go over career details. If she's on the road, she's conferenced in. The decisions are hers.

Like playing Gillette Stadium?

Absolutely. It's something she always wanted to do. She figures she'll do two or three stadium gigs next summer, that's all. She's salivating over building the show, deciding who will appear with her.

As for SNL, the call came through William Morris. They phoned and told her to hold for Lorne Michaels. Her heart was palpitating, she didn't figure it was about hosting SNL, and when she got the word, she was flying.

Then we discussed her career. And music.

I felt I was getting some stock answers. As I listened, I put myself in her shoes, wondered what it must feel like to get asked the same damn thing again and again. But I wanted to know. Did she see herself as a singer, an actress or..?

Definitely a singer. With a body of work that delineated the various periods of her life. Her first album was about being 13-16. Her second...

So I asked her what her favorite album was. Not because I was making a list, but because I wanted to know where she was coming from.

She thought for a moment, then said Shania Twain's "Come On Over".

I said Mutt Lange was the best living record producer, a true master. But had she ever listened to Joni Mitchell?

There was some hesitation. Then Taylor said no.

I told her to buy "Blue" tonight. Quoted her some lines from "A Case Of You".

And quoting that classic number, I went on to recite lines from Jackson Browne's "The Late Show". Told her I didn't want to overload her, but she should buy "Late For The Sky" too.

Taylor told me she'd seen Jackson live acoustic.

I guess I wanted to know if Taylor Swift wanted to be a star or an artist. That's why I wanted to know her favorite album, I wanted to know her hopes and dreams. Did she need to be in the spotlight, or was it about the work, testing limits?

She's the one who's got to figure it out.

Right now, she's the biggest star in America. Trumping U2, Springsteen, even Kenny Chesney and the Stones. And it's all based on these songs. Straight from the heart. That's why the little girls relate.

One day those girls will be women. A cusp where Taylor Swift is presently residing. Will she make the wrong choices?

I told her you can't say yes to everything. You can make some mistakes, but too many wrong steps can crimp your career.

Then again, I'm fifty six and she's nineteen. Growing up is about taking chances, making mistakes. But I didn't want her to listen to oldsters, telling her what to do, telling her it didn't make any difference as they skimmed from her pond.

We talked about Louis Messina and American Express. This was not some backwoods bimbo, an uneducated nitwit who was clueless when it came to business, but she knew only so much of the inner workings. But that which she did speak about she had a command of. When I broke new ground, she could follow. Taylor Swift is smart.

So where does that leave us?

Did Taylor Swift work me?

I've been worked before. I recognize it when I see it. Tommy Lee insisting I print his e-mail before he responds again. He was looking for publicity. Taylor seemed to need set the record straight. For herself.

Then again, there's an entire career in the balance.

But songs trump singing all day long. Anybody can sing, especially in this auto-tune era. But being able to write a great song, one that grabs fans lyrically and melodically, that's truly tough. And Taylor Swift has accomplished that.

So, I'm a huge fan of the albums.

And I'm convinced she's vocally challenged. But the way Taylor handled that in our conversation, by not skipping a beat, by admitting she's less than perfect, that she can handle the criticism, won me over.

Baby Steps

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An in-depth discussion of the legal requirements and tax consequences of starting your own music-publishing company is beyond the scope of this writing, so I'll only briefly summarize them here. As is the case when starting any other business, you should first choose a legal business structure (such as a sole proprietorship, limited liability company or corporation) and business name. A sole proprietor may conduct business under its own name or use an assumed or fictitious business name (otherwise known as "doing business as" name or "dba"). If you want to use an assumed name, check your state's business registry database to see whether it's available or has already been taken by someone else.

You may also need to apply to the Internal Revenue Service for a federal tax identification number (EIN). Go to www.irs.gov for a list of circumstances that require an EIN. Also, find out from your state and local agencies what the business-license requirements are for your area. I recommend you consult with a CPA (certified public accountant) for help with all decisions--and their tax consequences--related to starting your new business. State and local governments also offer helpful online resources for do-it-yourselfers.

You'll also need to affiliate your new company--and yourself separately as a songwriter-with a PRO. The PRO's operating in the United States are ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; www.ascap.com), BMI (Broadcast Music Inc; www.bmi.com) and SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors & Composers; www.sesac.com). They collect and disburse to their publisher and songwriter affiliates (or "members" in ASCAP parlance) performance royalties. These are revenues earned from the uses of a song in radio and Internet broadcasts, TV programs and commercials, and movies played in theaters outside the United States. Put another way, PRO's are essentially clearinghouses for licensing the performances of a good song as opposed to licensing the sale of physical copies or downloads, the synchronization of the song to picture in films on TV, and other uses. If you don't belong to a PRO, you'll have to individually license, keep track of, and collect payments for performances of your songs everywhere in the world--an impossible task for widely used songs.

ASCAP, BMI and SESAC all have different requirements for joining and use different payment schedules. You can belong to only one PRO at a time, but you can switch from one to another when your contract with your present PRO is up for renewal. ASCAP and BMI have a much bigger presence in the United States compared with SESAC, a fact that may have a bearing on the size of an affiliates royalties for a hit in this country.

You might also consider joining the Harry Fox Agency (HFA; www.harryfox.com). The HFA is a licensing clearing house and royalty compliance watchdog for the use of your songs in phonorecords and digital services, including downloads and on-demand streaming. The HFA does not issue synchronization and master use licenses (for film and TV placement), provide sample clearance, or license performance and print (sheet music) rights. It charges an annual membership fee and service commissions per license issued, so many start up companies choose to do their own mechanical and streaming licensing until their level of success justifies the added expense of joining the HFA.

More tommorrow...IMPORTANT...Copyright Registration

The Quincy Jones Music Consortium

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Q told me he had to go to Israel, to meet with Putin and other heads of state. He had to fix the Palestinian crisis before he died.

Anybody else tells you a story like this and your eyes roll into the back of your head. But Quincy's on an airplane seemingly more than he's home. He's trying to exact change. And people listen to him.

He hopes they listen to him about music education. He thinks we need it. That everywhere he goes people are listening to American music, but those in our country are woefully uninformed as to our heritage. He believes this has got to change.

Thus, the Quincy Jones Music Consortium.

Actually, he's not the only driving force. There's this guy Jeffrey Walker. A money man, presently a teacher at Harvard Business School. When he strode onto the dais and began speaking I was enthralled. Some people have a way of drawing you in and closing you, wrapping a net around you when you thought you were standing on the outside.

That's why I was in New York. For the second meeting of the Quincy Jones Music Consortium. Mostly those in music education. And Marty Albertson, CEO of Guitar Center, and Herbie Hancock, and me...

There's this organization, DonorsChoose.org Talk about the power of one.

Charles Best was a social studies teacher in the Bronx. Confronted with the challenges of the public school system. Where you've got the will, but very few of the tools. So, he created a site where teachers could put up their needs in plain English, and raise funds from the general public, seemingly instantly. It was easy to ask for the money, and usually it came rolling in. This is not a secret, Charles has been on Oprah, but watching him tell the story was inspirational. He wasn't about charisma, he wasn't about self-aggrandization, he was about results. (http://www.donorschoose.org/)

Wow. A teacher needs crayons, art supplies? Maybe only a couple of hundred dollars total? Who wouldn't give a couple of bucks. It's us helping us, in a world where there's gridlock in D.C. and those with the big bucks seemingly want a pound of flesh for the cash. Or require you to fill out so many forms and jump through so many hoops, you can't bother. Do you know how busy teachers are already?

And Charles is not the only one. Watch Carmine Appice play with the kids from Little Kids Rock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHrrldQYS3c

David Wish was a first grade teacher in the Bay Area, in an underprivileged, undernourished urban school. He was also a fanatical musician. He wanted to meld the two. So he ran around to all his guitarist friends, told them they could either pay him the money they owed him, or give him one of their guitars. And with the resultant axes, he started a school music program. Where kids played the music they wanted to. Rock, hip-hop, everything that could be performed with guitar, bass, keyboard and drums.

It's a raging success. David went on about scalability. He can instruct a teacher how to teach little kids to rock very quickly. And the cost to each individual student is miniscule.

But it is about teachers. He first roped in his aforementioned music friends. They didn't show up, they made excuses. They could play, but they couldn't instruct, they let the little kids down.

David now has 45,000 kids enrolled in Little Kids Rock: http://www.littlekidsrock.org/

And it is about teachers. Marty Albertson wants to train music teachers to do what music schools do not. How to interact with the community, to raise funds, to keep their music programs alive. He's willing to put up serious Guitar Center coin for a program called "All In" that creates multi-day gatherings to help these teachers learn how to do it.

And what do we want these kids to learn?

That's Q's passion. They've created an entire curriculum. Encompassing the history of American music. Screw kids taking lessons in order to raise their math and English scores, kids need to learn music for music itself. They need to know about their culture, where they come from, how they fit in.

But there are side benefits. There was this principal from the Bronx who told about the power of music. It kept kids in school. Students come to play. Otherwise, it's hard to keep their attention, they stay home, they join gangs.

Personally, I'd follow the wedge opened by David Wish. A simple program with results that can be easily understood. Use the excitement and passion to get kids playing contemporary music in all schools and then bring in history and orchestra behind it. You've got to start with success.

But the consortium is fighting on all fronts. They want some of that government money. And Quincy opens doors.

As for ultimate success...

I heard something brilliant from a fundraising expert. She said: "You don't need leadership if you have certainty."

Voila! That's it! People are always looking for the answer. Usually, the answer comes after the start. You've got to begin in order to find out where you're going. But if you never begin, you never get to the destination.

This is what has been lacking in the music business. It has historically been run by the labels, by the RIAA. Which are about protection of their present business model as opposed to any kind of vision, any kind of leadership. I wouldn't follow Mitch Bainwol anywhere. Nor the heads of any label. Because they've got their heads up their asses. Does Daniel Ek at Spotify have the answers? I'm not sure. But he's trying to lead in this uncertain world. Even Irving Azoff and Michael Rapino too. They're in search of answers.

When things are bad, we need to be led out of the wilderness. We've got to get behind somebody. Funny, in the music industry, the acts used to be the leaders. Some still are. Trent Reznor is a prime example. He's trying to do it without sacrificing his integrity, without selling out to the man, because music, when done right, must be pure. Shawn Fanning created a platform where all people could have all music. Was it economically flawed? Of course. But if you think restricting access to copyrighted material is the answer, you're unaware of how many sites hosting copyrighted material have sprung up since the crackdown on the Pirate Bay. They're multiplying like crazy.

So, will Quincy and Jeffrey and Marty succeed in their mission?

The answer is unclear. But they're leading. They're laying down their money and their time. And that's where you start.

http://qmusiqconsortium.ning.com/

Flash Sales

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Felice is hooked on RueLaLa.com.

In today's "Wall Street Journal" it is revealed that Saks Fifth Avenue, arbiter and seller of first line, high-priced wares, is going into competition with RueLala, and Gilt.com and HauteLook.com. In other words, Saks is going to sell out of season, oftentimes one year old, yet fully desirable merchandise, at a deep discount one item at a time with a countdown clock. Buy now, on impulse, or experience the agony of losing a bargain.

I too am a flash site devotee. I go to Tramdock.com. Where they purvey skiing equipment, one item at a time, at a deep discount. Right this very second, they're selling Scott skis at 55% off. One color, two sizes. Buy 'em now or...

Usually, flash sites will send you a daily e-mail (opt-in, you can always check the site yourself). Telling you about the deals that will unfold in the next twenty four hours. On hot items, shoppers keep refreshing their browser, divining when that one desirable item in the size and color they want will be revealed.

Everybody loves a bargain. Everybody loves a deal on something worthwhile.

And the stuff is always good on these sites. It's not bargain basement crap. Sometimes it's overstock of a special model that turned out to have less desirability than retailers thought. Sometimes, the new model has changes and the old one has to be blown out. And if you receive your item and don't like it, you can return it for free.

In other words, shopping is fun. Addictive. You end up buying stuff you didn't even know about, never mind had a desire to acquire.

Like concert tickets.

How low does the price have to go before you take a flier?

You've heard of this band, would you check them out for ten bucks instead of the seventy five it takes a true-blue fan to sit down front?

If most of the concert tickets go unsold, why not find innovative ways to move them?

The artists and agents are standing in the way. Contracts usually forbid these momentary deep discounts. But why? Do acts really not want people to see them? And, if a casual fan comes to see them is the act so bad the newbie will laugh, or be converted on the spot?

Instead of using Goldstar, instead of papering, sell the unsold inventory at a deep discount, via a flash site.

Can you imagine concertgoers all over America checking multiple times a day for deals? Signing up for e-mail to be told what will go on sale that day? Imagine what else you can sell/inform them of in said e-mail!

And we all know, the quicker you click, the better your seat.

Felice found out about RueLaLa from her sister. I found out about Tramdock from EpicSki.com, a forum for skiers. I kept hearing retailers bitch and consumers be thrilled. I finally had to check it out for myself. I bought a waxing iron at deep discount. When I saw I pair of Smith ski goggles, the exact ones I use, at almost 70% off, I immediately contacted Felice, to tell her to log on and buy them right now!

Furthermore, the customer service is great. It was unclear which goggle lens to purchase, but the Tramdock person who e-mailed advice had used them all! These flash sites are not adversarial, they're like a giant club, everybody in it together to get a deal.

Flash sites are coming to concert ticketing.

It's just a matter of when.

Is the touring industry gonna be like the record industry, afraid of change, afraid of new technology, afraid of taking a risk? Or is it going to experiment with the hottest sales technique for unsold inventory today?

You launch it, the public will spread the word. It's not about advertising, costs are especially low, and in the concert sphere there's no issue of returns.

If you want a guaranteed good seat, log on to Ticketmaster at 10 A.M. on Saturday morning. Better yet, get an American Express card and join the fan club. But if you don't need to go to the concert, but if the deal gets attractive enough you will, shouldn't the industry cater to you too? You know you're not getting the best tickets, but you're getting a deal. And if you don't think people are into deals, you never talk to anybody. And I can't tell you how many acts I ended up loving after taking a flier on promos in the record store bin in the seventies. Shall we start with Karla Bonoff, Be Bop Deluxe, Alan Parsons...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703574604574501741691272378.html

Felice Is Hooked on RueLaLa.com

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Felice is hooked on RueLaLa.com.

In today's "Wall Street Journal" it is revealed that Saks Fifth Avenue, arbiter and seller of first line, high-priced wares, is going into competition with RueLala, and Gilt.com and HauteLook.com. In other words, Saks is going to sell out of season, oftentimes one year old, yet fully desirable merchandise, at a deep discount one item at a time with a countdown clock. Buy now, on impulse, or experience the agony of losing a bargain.

I too am a flash site devotee. I go to Tramdock.com. Where they purvey skiing equipment, one item at a time, at a deep discount. Right this very second, they're selling Scott skis at 55% off. One color, two sizes. Buy 'em now or...

Usually, flash sites will send you a daily e-mail (opt-in, you can always check the site yourself). Telling you about the deals that will unfold in the next twenty four hours. On hot items, shoppers keep refreshing their browser, divining when that one desirable item in the size and color they want will be revealed.

Everybody loves a bargain. Everybody loves a deal on something worthwhile.

And the stuff is always good on these sites. It's not bargain basement crap. Sometimes it's overstock of a special model that turned out to have less desirability than retailers thought. Sometimes, the new model has changes and the old one has to be blown out. And if you receive your item and don't like it, you can return it for free.

In other words, shopping is fun. Addictive. You end up buying stuff you didn't even know about, never mind had a desire to acquire.

Like concert tickets.

How low does the price have to go before you take a flier?

You've heard of this band, would you check them out for ten bucks instead of the seventy five it takes a true-blue fan to sit down front?

If most of the concert tickets go unsold, why not find innovative ways to move them?

The artists and agents are standing in the way. Contracts usually forbid these momentary deep discounts. But why? Do acts really not want people to see them? And, if a casual fan comes to see them is the act so bad the newbie will laugh, or be converted on the spot?

Instead of using Goldstar, instead of papering, sell the unsold inventory at a deep discount, via a flash site.

Can you imagine concertgoers all over America checking multiple times a day for deals? Signing up for e-mail to be told what will go on sale that day? Imagine what else you can sell/inform them of in said e-mail!

And we all know, the quicker you click, the better your seat.

Felice found out about RueLaLa from her sister. I found out about Tramdock from EpicSki.com, a forum for skiers. I kept hearing retailers bitch and consumers be thrilled. I finally had to check it out for myself. I bought a waxing iron at deep discount. When I saw I pair of Smith ski goggles, the exact ones I use, at almost 70% off, I immediately contacted Felice, to tell her to log on and buy them right now!

Furthermore, the customer service is great. It was unclear which goggle lens to purchase, but the Tramdock person who e-mailed advice had used them all! These flash sites are not adversarial, they're like a giant club, everybody in it together to get a deal.

Flash sites are coming to concert ticketing.

It's just a matter of when.

Is the touring industry gonna be like the record industry, afraid of change, afraid of new technology, afraid of taking a risk? Or is it going to experiment with the hottest sales technique for unsold inventory today?

You launch it, the public will spread the word. It's not about advertising, costs are especially low, and in the concert sphere there's no issue of returns.

If you want a guaranteed good seat, log on to Ticketmaster at 10 A.M. on Saturday morning. Better yet, get an American Express card and join the fan club. But if you don't need to go to the concert, but if the deal gets attractive enough you will, shouldn't the industry cater to you too? You know you're not getting the best tickets, but you're getting a deal. And if you don't think people are into deals, you never talk to anybody. And I can't tell you how many acts I ended up loving after taking a flier on promos in the record store bin in the seventies. Shall we start with Karla Bonoff, Be Bop Deluxe, Alan Parsons...

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